


How lovely the holidays can be

by tschulie



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fanatical Fam's Holiday Fic Exchange 2020, Fluff, Friendship, Indian!Potters, Podcast: Fanatical Fics and Where to Find Them, winter holidays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 18:14:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28675038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tschulie/pseuds/tschulie
Summary: At 13 years old Sirius Black spends the winter holidays away from home for the first time. That year and the ones following he discovers just how lovely the holiday season can be.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	How lovely the holidays can be

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rising_Dragon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rising_Dragon/gifts).



**1972**

It was the last day before the Christmas holidays and different to that time the previous year, young Sirius Black was happy about that, because this year he didn’t need to go home. He was going to stay at James’ place and it was going to be bloody amazing!

As soon as he and his friends had boarded the Hogwarts Express and were seated in a compartment they started plotting potential pranks. They had sweets from the trolley witch and arrived in London in no time. 

In the corner of his eye Sirius saw the stern look of his mother, but the next second he found himself engulfed in a big warm hug like he’d only ever gotten one from Mrs. Potter. They flooed straight from platform 9 ¾ to Godric’s Hollow. 

As he stepped out of the fireplace, the first thing his eyes fell on was a rather small but colourfully decorated Christmas tree and a wave of pine sent hit his nostrils. Sirius sighed. This was already miles better than every Christmas he’d ever had at Grimmauld place. Everything in the Potter’s house was cozy and welcoming. He had been there before shortly, but at this time of year it was even better. You could feel the Christmas spirit in the air. As Sirius stood there dumbstruck, James wasn’t that enthusiastic. “Come on, Sirius” he pestered, “Let’s go to my room”. 

The young Black pulled himself together and followed his friend upstairs while Mr. Potter levitated their trunks towards James’ room where a guest bed had already been set up. Even though they had a perfectly functional guest bedroom, the Potters figured that the two best friends would want to spend as much time together as possible. And they were correct. 

They hadn't even set everything up yet when Mrs. Potter called them for dinner. At home, he and Reg normally ate separately in the kitchen and the food that the house elves made was tasty, but you could definitely taste all the love Mrs. Potter had cooked into the food. It was more than just nutrition. 

It was already late when the boys went upstairs that night after a lovely board game night, but they talked for another two hours after. James’ breaths got deeper and deeper and after a while Sirius heard the silent snores he was so used to. His friend had fallen asleep but the boy lay awake for a few more minutes processing all the new impressions of the day. Then sleep came over him as well with a smile on his face. 

Even though he had gone to sleep later Sirius awoke before the young Potter. Like it always is at a friend's place, he didn’t dare to wake him up, so he waited, his gaze going through the room. All the walls were cluttered with Quidditch posters and James even had a framed trikot signed by his favourite player. There were also shelves filled with some books, trophies from James’ childhood Quidditch team and clutter. Like the rest of the house it felt like home. Sirius’ room at home was actually inspired by this one. 

“Mornin’,” mumbled a sleepy James as he yawned and stretched.  
“Good morning mate,” Sirius greeted him in return. After they had gotten dressed they made their way downstairs. In the hallway they already smelled bacon and eggs and it was only then that they realized how hungry they were. They set the table and waited impatiently for Mr. Potter to finish cooking.   
“Did you sleep well Sirius?” he asked as he scrambled some more eggs   
“Yes, thank you,” the boy replied politely. 

Nothing spectacular happened that day, but it was great nonetheless. The boys went outside to play Quidditch in the backyard that was enchanted so that muggle neighbors couldn’t see anything suspicious and overall had a lot of fun. It was Christmas Eve, and the Potters, who were actually quite fond of muggle things and technology, and their guest spent the evening in front of the TV. Sirius had never seen something like that before. He’d never thought that something like that would be possible without magic. That night, it was even harder for the boys to go to sleep. The excitement was too big even though none of them believed in Father Christmas anymore.

“ _Hey!_ ”   
Sirius heard a whisper. Still mostly asleep he grunted and turned around, facing away from the disturbance.   
“ _Come on, man_ ”, then Sirius was poked in the side. He didn’t react. The next thing he knew were fingers all over him. James had decided that a tickle attack would be the only way to get the attention he wanted.   
“Stop!” Sirius squealed, attempting to roll off the bed to escape. He grabbed his pillow and hit his bed friend with it. Soon it had turned into a full on pillow fight. 

When they took a moment to breathe James remembered why he had originally wanted to wake up his friend. It was Christmas day! Said friend had come to the same conclusion almost simultaneously.   
“It’s Christmas!” they screamed in unison and proceeded to run down the stairs.

Hearing the commotion the boys running down the stairs created Mr. and Mrs. Potter came out of their bedroom, smiles on their faces. They were happy that their son had something like the sibling he had always wished for. 

They spent Christmas day with James' extended family. The house was full of cousins, aunts, uncles and other relatives. They had food Sirius had never encountered before. Things like samosas, chicken tikka, batata vada, bhajias, chutneys and so on, most of which had been brought by the family, were shared around. Sirius was seated with James and all of his cousins. Later when they had finished eating and started to get bored they played games. 

Together with three of James’ cousins, they sneaked outside into the garden, starting an epic snowball fight. The adults seemed to ignore the underage magic they used to create the quickest and most unerring balls. Frozen to the bone but happy they got back inside just in time for dinner.

Overall Sirius had a lot of fun and by the sounds of it the adults did as well. The whole atmosphere was cheerful and easy, so different from everything he was used to and Sirius loved it. 

Most of the people stayed the night, so as James' room was occupied all the kids slept on the living room floor on a lot of blankets and pillows. 

Boxing day and basically the rest of the holiday they spent playing with their presents and Quidditch. As early January came around, they were reunited with their school friends on platform 9 ¾. 

**1980**

A few years later Sirius still vividly remembers that particular holiday season.

Over the years he had had so many lovely winter holidays with his friends. 

In their 4th year James, Peter, Remus and he had spent Christmas at Hogwarts because the full moon fell into the break. 

After that they had started the tradition of throwing infamous New Years Eve parties at James’ place with all their friends on one of which he had shared his first kiss with the love of his life and one of his best friends. 

When James and Lily (finally) got together, their friend groups merged and Marlene taught them how Hanukkah was celebrated. 

It was safe to say that the winter holiday season quickly became Sirius’ favourite time of the year. 

This year however, the situation was different. The war had become more and more dangerous and a big party was not a thing anybody in their right mind would do at that point.

And another thing was very different from the previous years: there was a sleeping baby on his chest as he lay on the sofa, his head on Remus’ lap. Harry, his godson and if you asked Sirius, the 5 month old was the sweetest and greatest child that has ever been.

So he lay there, as a tipsy James and Peter got into an argument over the game of wizards chess they were playing and his boyfriend talked to the mother of the baby, Lily, who was sitting in an armchair across from him, reminiscing about the past year and his life. 

In silence he thanked the Sorting Hat for putting him into Gryffindor. 

**Author's Note:**

> A big thank you goes out to Nikita for being my source on Chrismas in British-Indian households and to Sabrina for proof reading and organizing the fic exchange <3


End file.
